Article of vulcanized footwear.



M. C. CLARK.

ARTICLE OF VULOANIZED FO'IWEAB.

APPLICATION FILED UTJIB, 1905.

Patented June 29, 1909.

I SHEETS-SHEET 1.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MAURICE C. CLARK, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO MARVEL RUBBER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF RHODE ISLAND.

ARTICLE OF VULCANIZED FOOTWEAR.

A Specification of Lettera Patent.

Patented June 29, 1909.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, MAURICE C. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Providence, county of Providence, and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Article of Vulcanized Footwear, of which the following is a specification.

V My invention consists in a vulcanized shoe or boot as an article of manufacture containing the features and combinations ol' features hereinafter particularly described and specifically set forth in the claims.

In the following is described not merely the features of the article itself, but also the process by which it is preferred to inanufacture the saine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 represent an overshoe containing the invention. Figs. 3 to 6 are various sections of the same. Figs. 7 ond8 are details illustrating methods of building. Figs. 9, 1() and 11 are diagrammatic representations of the molding and vulcanizing operation. Fig. 12 is a longitudinal section of a lumbermans shoe containing the invention.

' The shoe or boot may be built upon the last as follows: Upon the last 1, is first placed the insole 2; next, the lining 3 with its lower i edge lap ing the insole, as shown; next, the

filling so e 4; next, the upper 5; next, the outsole 6.

The lining 3 and insole 2 are composed of textile material coated on the outside with rubber. They are preferably partially vulcanized before being built upon the last, altliou h they may bel built upon the last in unvu-canized condition. This partial vulcani'zation may be erfoi'iiied by subiecting the coated textile fab sole to a lower degree of heat (say, 240 degrees), or for a shorter length of time, than would ordinarily be used for the vulcanization ofthe rubber com und. The effect of this prelimina parti vulcanization of the lining materia is that the creeping on the surface o'f the last under the outside mold the textile material of the linin so as to coat Ythe inner surface thereof wit the rubber 552 colpound.'

e tllingsole 4 is of .textile material ric for the lining and incoated on both sides with unvulcanized rubi ber compound. The upper 5 is a sheet of i unvulcanized rubber compound which is preferably slightly thicker than desired in the finished article,beeause'the pressure of the molds has a tendency lo thin it by crowding its material toward and, to some extent, i out at the edges of the mold parte. The upper in the completed article is preferably l gradually thickened at 5a as it approaches the sole, all the way around ythe shoe. For vthe production of this thickening, dependence may be placed upon the crowding or l fiowing of the rubber compound towardthe edgel above referred to, or the unvulcanizcd sheet may be made thicker' at that point before being built on the last.

The outside sole 6 is made of less than the full width or lengt-h and built, as shown either in Fig. 7 or Fig. 8, wherein the upper extends down into the sole space of the i mold so that the material of the upper shall,

in the finished article, constitute the outer edge of the sole. l

ln Fig. 7 the edge of the unvulcanzed sole is shown as abutting against the side i of the unvulcanized upper, but in Fig. 8, the upper is shown as containingV an extension under the sole and forming a beveled joint therewith. An advantage of building, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, is that in the eempletcd article the superior composition (con taining a lar er percentage of real rubber and being so er when vulcanized) of the upper extends all the way down to the bottom of the shoe and the inferior composition of the solo is confined to the middle portions of the sole; presenting a superior quality of material at the edges of the sole where the joint occurs with the upper and the cracking tendency of the upper is greatest and where the solo receives most blows in Wear.

In the building of the shoe above described, tlie upper is a separately rolled sheet of rubber compound from the rubber coated lining. This, while preferable., is not essential because the sheet constituting the up er may be rolled onto the coated lining beirire the lining is applied and the two a plied together. In t 1s case, preferably t ie above described be ore the uiivulcanized sheet constituting the u per is rolled onto 1t.

After the building of die shoe iii any of the Ways above described, a vamp piece of line coated lining will be artally vulcanized as Y -tion toward and from each other.

grade of rubber compound may be aplpled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in dotted in es, of superior rubber extending from sol to sole, and from a portion of the distance toWar the toe. t thus covers the portions of the rubber that are most liable to wrinkle and to crack. Again, theball of the sole may be covered by a thin piece of fine grade rubber compound, as indicated at 8, 1n Figs. 2 and 3. Again, the rear portion of the heel may also be covered by a thin lece of ine ade rubber com ound, as in lcated at 9, Figs. 2 and 3. gain, the superlor compound of the upper forming the edge of the sole, as shown in Fig. 8, after vulcanlzation, extends below the Lower level of the sole entirely around the shoe, so as not only to relieve the bottom of the sole from wear .but also to present a head or series of projections of comparativelv soft and suprerior rubber which will reve'nt the wearer om sh ping. After building the shoe upon the ast 1n the manner' above described, 1t, still containing the last, is placed within the mold for purposes of vulcanization; de endence being placed upon the form of t e interior of the mold to Vgive the nal form and finish to the completed article and impress uponit any lines or marks, such as corrugation of the sole, etc.

The molding step of the process is as follows: Reference is made to the diagrams Figs. 9, 10 and 1l, in which A represents the inverted last (of solid or rigid material such as wood orl metal in contradistinction to gaseous material, such as air) with ua shoe uilt upon it as above described, at a cross section at about the ball of the foot. B and C are two side parts of the mold havi mo- D ls the sole mold havi motion toward and from the two side mol s.

According to the preferable method, the pported slightly above forming a zone over the instep the to of the vam shoe and last are su the vulcanizing position (about i of an inch above) and the side molds B and C are brought together, as 'shown in Fig. 9. VThen the sole mold is advanced so as to press the shoe and its last down into-vulcanizmg osition, as shown in 10. By this mo e of operation, as the gether, the presence of the space o; inside their edges prevents them from having any substantial chaiing action upon the shoe wluch would cause the to cree on the last so as to form a Ifold in the lining the edges of the mold at thejunctlon of the side molds. sition of Fi 9 to that of Fig. 10, by whlch the last .an shoe are forced down into the side molds, is so slight as either not to produce any substantial cree of the linin on the last at the sides of tge s oe or if suc creeping occurs, any resulting ful ness of the the thickening of the up side molds are brought to etween The final motion from the poa boot or a lumbermans s oe,

is substantially at the junction between thelining and the sole where it is substantially negligible. It will be observed that the upper edges ofthe side molds B andl C are sligh y beveled so as to leave spaces b, c adjacent to the edges of the sole. The rubber forced into these spaces by the compression of the upper (or laced there in uilding the shoe, as above c escribed) forms er adjacent to the ed es ofthe sole above re erred to and shown in igs. 3 to 6. vulcanizing temperature as soon as their heat is brought to bear upon the unvuloanized rubber of the upper, 1t is almost immediately softened to such an extenty that it tends to flow away from the regions of greatest pressure toward the regions of less so as to fi l u any cavities rovided by themold. It wi be understood, of course, that Figs.

9, 1G and 11, are merely diagrammatic and W the spaces a, b and c are exaggerated in size for convenience of illustration.4

In lieu of employing the preliminary position or movement illustrated in Fig. 9 the closin of the molds may, though less,I esirabl e accomplished al at once as shown in 1g. 1.1.' That is to say, A may tion while the side molds B and (l and sole 4mold D are all closed at once. ln this case, for the prevention of the formation of a fold of the lining between the side molds B, C, dependence must be had upon the fact that the nal junction of the molds B nd C occurs at a line d from which the curva ure of the upper on each side is sufliciently abrupt, 'so that the molds move only a very short distance from the time that they come in contact with the surface of the u per until the come in contact with each ot er and, there ore, there is verylittle tendency to cause the lining to creep upon the surface of the last toward the line d. Such creeping tendenc is also de creased if the lining has receiver?r the preliminary partial vulcanization above referred to.

Y ln the vulcanized article produced by the 'molds of Figs. 9 and 10, the upper, mcluslve of the preferable extra thickness thereof pro duced in the s aces t and awill overlap the edges ofthe so e so that practicaly the up er extends down to the ground. r, in ot er wordsz the sole is edged lall around by the material of t `e upper, which is considered to be a gJreat a vantage because it produces .a joint etween the upper and the sole that 1s not likely to give way, and also produces a sole that will wear better at the ed es. lf the material of the upper extends be ow the sole it may serve to revent slipping and to relieve the middle o the sole from wear.

In case the heel or outsole is builtup of more than one layer or ta as in the case of shown in Fig. 12, the material of the upper will be extended The molds being heated to.

Vto the bottom of the sole and heel inclusivev of any tap that the sole or heel ma contain.

In-Fi 1 is shown the shoe provi ed with a rib or ead r extended across the front ofthe vamp from the Vopening of the shoe to the toe ortlon of the sole, while a second rib or bead 1" extends downward at the heel. Both these beads r and 'r' are formed at the junction of adjacent or inner edges of the side molds, and in addition to giving strength and durabilit to the shoe also add to the ap earance o the article.

aving thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A vulcanized article of'molded rubber footwear comprising a textile lining, an insole, a rubber outsole, and a rubber upper directed toward and united with the sole, the lower edge of said upper constituting the outer edge of the sole and being of softer colmpositwn than the body portion of the so e.

2. A vulcanized article of molded rubber footwear comprising a sole member and an upper extending down to and under the edlge o the outsole forming a union vwith t e same, and a molded projection or bead e'X- tending around the bottom of the sole. i

. 3. A vulcanized article of molded rubber footwear, comprising a sole portion and an upper having its lower ed e extendin down to and under the ledge 0% the outso e, and fcrmin a union therewith, the edge of the up er eing of softer material than the centra portion of the sole.

4. A vulcanized article ofmolded rubber i 

